Western Sahara is located in Northern Africa on the Atlantic Ocean, and surrounded by Algeria to the east, Morocco to the north and Mauritania to the south. Its large coastline is mostly rocky and not fit for beaches or travel. The the area of the country is around 260,000 sq. km. (103,000 sq. mi.) and consists mostly of low, flat desert, with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast. With a population of only around 390,000 people, Western Sahara is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world. The largest city is El Aaiún (Laayoune) and is home to about 200,000 people, a little over half the population in Western Sahara.

Western Sahara was portioned between Morocco and Mauritania in April 1976, when Spain left the area. Morocco acquired the northern two-thirds of the territory, Mauritania the rest. In August 1979 Mauritania abandoned all clams to its portion, after pressure from Polisario guerrillas, and Morocco moved to occupy that sector shortly thereafter. The Polisario Front still controls a small area bordering Algeria and claims to run this area as the Free Zone on behalf of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). A UN administered cease-fire between Morocco and the Polisario Front has remained in effect since September 1991, but attempts to hold a referendum have failed and the parties have rejected other proposals.

Western Sahara is hot and dry, consequently rain is rare, but flash floods occur.

Western Sahara is not a tourist destination, and no organized tourist industry exists.

     Map of Africa      

South Africa	Egypt	Northern Africa	Eastern Africa	Western Africa	Southern Africa
Package Holidays	Package Holidays	Morocco	Kenya	Gambia	Botswana
South Africa Hotels	Hotels and Resorts	Algeria	Tanzania	Guinea	Namibia
South Africa Safaris	Nile Cruises	Tunisia	Uganda	Sierra Leone	Mozambique
South Africa Flights	Holiday Resorts	Libya	Somalia	Ivory Coast	Madagascar
Johannesburg	Flights to Egypt	Sudan	Rwanda	Ghana	Mauritius
Cape Town	Cairo	Eritrea	Burundi	Nigeria	Seychelles
Durban	Alexandria	Ethiopia	Links	Cameroon	Zimbabwe
Kruger National Park	Luxor	Djibouti		Gabon	Angola
Garden Route	Valley of the Kings	Western Sahara		Congo	Zambia
Drakensberg Range	Nile Delta	Mauritania			Malawi